Lubbock's Spring Wind Season and the Trees That Fail in It
Updated 2026-10 · Lubbock, TX
How windy Lubbock actually is
Lubbock's average wind speed across the year is about 12.4 miles an hour on NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals, enough for The Weather Channel to rank it among the windiest cities in the United States. March and April are the worst of it, averaging close to 15 miles an hour, with May not far behind. The strongest gust on the airport record is 90 miles an hour, in May 1952.
What matters for trees is the duration as much as the peaks. A spring day here can blow at 30 to 40 miles an hour for hours, and a tree with a weak point gets flexed thousands of times before the day is over.
The trees that fail first
- Trees with dead limbs in the top, usually left over from a dry summer
- Trees with tight, narrow forks, especially Siberian elm and Bradford pear
- Trees that were topped years ago, now carrying big limbs on decayed stubs
- Pines that browned out the previous year, which are brittle and catch a lot of wind
- Trees with root damage from trenching, a new driveway or a foundation repair
- Young trees on open lots on the edge of town, still staked or recently unstaked
What to check in winter
Late fall and winter are the time to look, because the leaves are off and the structure is visible. Stand back from each big tree and look up. You are looking for dead limbs with no buds, cracks at forks, limbs resting on the roof, and anything that has moved since last year.
Then look at the base: mushrooms, soft wood, a lean that is new, or soil heaving on one side. Any one of those on a big tree over the house is worth having looked at before March.
What the search data says about timing
Searches for tree removal in Lubbock run all year. In the most recent twelve months measured they bottomed out in December and January, at about 210 a month, climbed to around 390 from March through May, and peaked at about 590 in July, when summer storms bring limbs down and dead trees are obvious against green ones.
The calls follow the damage. The better pattern is the reverse: deadwood out and weak limbs reduced in the winter, when many companies have more room, so there is less for the spring wind to take.
After a wind event
Walk the yard once the wind drops. Broken limbs still hanging in the crown are the most dangerous thing a storm leaves behind, more than the ones on the ground. Keep people and cars out from under them and get them taken down by someone with ropes. If anything is on a power line, call the utility first.
Want the trees checked before the spring wind arrives? Call for a free estimate and a local tree company will walk the lot with you.
Where to go next
Common questions
Is it too late to prune once the wind season starts?
No. Dead and hanging limbs should come out whenever they are found. Larger structural pruning is easier in the dormant season, but a dead limb over the roof should not wait for the calendar.
Do windbreaks protect trees near the house?
A healthy windbreak slows wind across the lot, which helps. A dying windbreak with gaps can funnel wind and drop its own limbs. Keeping it healthy is part of the job.